2 Men Convicted In Death Of Officer Peter Figoski Get 25 Years To Life
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two men convicted in connection with the December 2011 murder of an NYPD officer were sentenced to long prison terms on Thursday.
Nelson Morales, 29, and 32-year-old Kevin Santos were both sentenced to 25 years to life.
Officer Peter Figoski was shot and killed as officers interrupted the robbery of a drug dealer in Brooklyn.
Morales, dubbed the mastermind of the robbery, and Santos were both found guilty last month of burglary and second-degree murder.
"Mr. Morales, ther's no question you were the one who came up with the idea," Judge Alan Marrus said as the sentence was handed down.
Figoski's mother, Mary Ann, released the following statement Thursday:
"We witnessed our legal system at work daily. The judge, the court officers, the ADAs and the jury of the accused perpetrator's peers as well as the defense attorneys. It brought home to us how fortunate we are to live in a country where every effort is made to insure justice is served," it read, in part.
Mary Ann Figoski also thanked her son's fellow officers, whom she called her other family. She also called the convicted men predators, CBS 2's John Slattery reports.
"We see no remorse, no regrets, andmost likely never will. Society must be protected from predators like them who respect no one and prey on others," Mary Ann said.
The gunman who killed Figoski, Lamont Pride, was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison back in February.
Pride's alleged getaway driver, Michael Velez, was found not guilty of first- and second-degree burglary. Velez said he didn't know he was driving the men to a robbery.
A fifth suspect, Ariel Tejada, testified against the others as part of a plea deal that gave him a lesser sentence.
PBA representatives told CBS 2 that they would continue to stand by the Figoski family.
"We will be here to make sure they never, ever get paroled," PBA President Patrick Lynch said.
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